"How dare you!"
"Do you know where this place is? How dare you attack the Royal Palace!?"
Priest Simon, Priest Mahad, and Isis immediately stepped forward.
"Pharaoh, please step back!" Mahad picked up his Millennium Ring, "We'll handle this small thief!"
Bakura squinted his eyes, eyeing the Millennium Ring maliciously, and chuckled, "Oh, Priest, that Millennium Ring in your hand has a connection with me.
If you're sensible, would you hand it over to me?"
"Hmph, ignorant!" Mahad shouted, "The Millennium Items are tools that can only be wielded by chosen priests to uphold justice! Someone like you, filled with evil intentions, would have your soul obliterated the moment you touch the artifact."
"Tools to uphold justice?"
Bakura laughed heartily as if he heard the most hilarious thing.
"Don't make me laugh. What relationship could these filthy, evil things have with justice? I think you don't understand at all!"
"What did you say?"
Mahad took a step forward, ready to advance, but was stopped by the Pharaoh's arm extended before him.
"Pharaoh?" Mahad was surprised.
"Stand down, Mahad," Dark Yugi said solemnly, "Leave this guy to me."
"But..."
Mahad hesitated, but upon seeing the Pharaoh's serious expression, he finally stepped back.
"...Yes."
Of course, he felt it was strange, the sudden appearance of a comrade beside the Pharaoh was peculiar, and even more so was the thief's sudden intrusion into the Royal Palace.
What puzzled him most was that the Pharaoh seemed to recognize the intruder.
But such thoughts merely flashed by quickly. Mahad's loyalty was ingrained, and he would carry out any order without hesitation, without any doubt.
"Bakura, what exactly are you trying to do?" Dark Yugi questioned.
"Yugi... or rather, here it should be the esteemed Pharaoh," Bakura replied mockingly, chuckling, "In this world, my identity is 'Thief King Bakura'... just a petty thief. What a world of difference in status."
He laughed eerily twice, "I told you, this is our 'Ultimate Darkness Game'. Although things didn't go exactly as expected, I've acquired what I needed."
With a smirk, he swung his arm, revealing the golden Dueling Disc beneath his cloak.
"This is a Darkness Game between the two of us, so come, Pharaoh! Our first round of confrontation!" he said, licking his lips, "Of course, if you're not careful, it might be the last round."
Dark Yugi's gaze sharpened, his cape swooshing as he prepared to activate the golden Dueling Disc on his wrist.
Bakura had slightly cheated by entering a direct duel with Yugi here.
Unlike Youyu, who had the System Card Pool as an external aid, normally, they should acquire slabs in this Memory World similar to leveling up and collecting gear in an RPG game.
However, Bakura had prepared beforehand by managing to bring his own pre-prepared card deck into the Memory World.
Although Yugi, as the Pharaoh, had a wide variety of slabs to choose from in his card pool, and his default deck included the power of the Three Egyptian Gods, it wasn't his usual deck, lacking some powerful Monsters he relied on.
For example, the Black Luster Soldier, or the Black Magician.
Indeed, the Pharaoh's default card deck didn't include the Black Magician or the entire Black Magic series of cards.
If you ask why, it's because the Black Magician himself, Mahad, was standing behind the Pharaoh, wearing the Millennium Ring.
The Monster Yugi trusted most, "Black Magician," was actually his loyal Priest Mahad. Three thousand years ago, Mahad unleashed forbidden Magic Power, merging his soul with spirits, creating the unique and strongest Mage, the "Black Magician," eternally at Yugi's side.
"Even with the Three Egyptian Gods, Yugi's card deck is incomplete now," Bakura thought confidently.
He hadn't troubled Yugi before only because he dreaded the initial deck's included Egyptian Gods. Now having acquired the Three Evil Gods Tablet, Bakura considered the Gods no longer a threat.
Yugi's current deck didn't even have the Black Magician, so how could he contend with Bakura?
Bakura was feeling smug when suddenly the other Yugi pulled out a Dueling Disc—the high-tech version developed by future Kaiba Company—and tossed it to Dark Yugi.
"Other me, catch this!"
Dark Yugi caught it, surprised, "This is..."
"A Dueling Disc, along with our card deck!" Yugi smiled as he encouraged him, "I kept it with me when entering your Memory World, and somehow, it crossed over.
"I suppose if you're going to duel, you'll need our card deck, right?"
Dark Yugi was touched, "AIBO... thank you."
Swiftly, the Pharaoh detached the ancient Alchemy Duel Disc from his arm, replacing it with the high-tech gear from Kaiba Group.
"Come on, Bakura! Let's end this here and now!"
Adeptly, he activated the Dueling Disc, his cape billowing, as he immediately felt the familiar sensation of being the Duel King in Duel City.
Bakura stared wide-eyed at the recently overlooked Yugi and Jonouchi, his expression akin to—
—Hey, referee, there's outside assistance here!
This really feels like cheating, doesn't it?
As an ancient Pharaoh, is it really okay to use such future technology?
...Of course, he could only think about it.
Since their Darkness Game had no official operations or GMs, being able to cheat was the Pharaoh's skill, and Bakura could only accept it begrudgingly...
Hmph, no matter.
Having his card deck merely set both on equal footing again.
With the Evil God in hand, Bakura felt his power unrivaled, incomparable to his real-world self.
Now facing Yugi, he believed he couldn't lose again!
Bakura opened his ancient golden Dueling Disc, a beam of light pierced through the Royal Palace ceiling, shooting into the sky. Moments later, five slabs manifested above him, crashing down with a heavy sound.
"Duel!" x2
[Bakura, LP 4000]
[Dark Yugi, LP 4000]